How to keep your skin looking good

How do you keep your skin looking beautiful and young-looking?

As you get older it gets increasingly difficult to keep that youthful appearance of firm, clear skin. Having a good facial in Surrey is a good start but what else can you do?

Well you can do a lot for yourself. Here are a few ideas:

You can make sure you have a healthy diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and greens. What you eat shows in your skin especially your face.

Make sure you drink plenty of water every day. Not tea or coffee or coca-cola. Just water. This keeps your skin hydrated and plumped up (thereby reducing fine lines on your skin.) Tea and coffee are diuretics and the liquid just goes in one end and out the other.

Don't smoke.  Do I need to say any more? Smokers tend to look older than they actually are.

Don't drink excessively. We can all recognise a heavy drinker by the broken capillaries which show on their nose and cheeks can't we?

Don't use tanning booths and limit the time that you spend in the sun and always use sun cream when you do. Sun damage is the single most important cause of premature aging. Remember to put sun cream your chest and the back of your hands and neck. They're often the first place to show your age.

Rather than using soap on your face, make sure you use good quality cleansers that are right for your skin.

And make sure you get a professional facial to deep cleanse your skin - ideally every four to six weeks - but at least four times a year, as the seasons change.

Find out how facial treatments can help you keep a youthful skin by visiting my website.

No Need to Wait in Your Car

If you arrive early for your male massage or male waxing appointment, there's no need to wait in your car outside. My glamorous assistant is around most days Monday to Friday to let you in if I am busy with my previous client.

If you are very early he may also offer you a drink. Either way you can sit and relax in my waiting room and thumb through old copies of the Woman's Weekly and Readers Digest.

Sometimes, of course, the previous client may have arrived late and I will try to be with you as soon as possible. At times I can also be too busy to deal with enquiries about a facial or threading so my assistant may also answer your calls and texts while I am working in my massage and therapy room.

All this is to help to provide you with the best possible service and return your calls, texts and emails as soon as possible.   

Daniel

How building work is affecting my masssage and male waxing business

For many months now we have been planning improvements to the home from which I work offering male waxing and male massage in Surrey.  We have done the dreaming part: wouldn't it be nice if... couldn't we just do... I'd really like a... etc, we have had the plans drawn up and approved by Woking Borough Council. And now the time has finally come for the builders to move in. Well time for them to start work anyway.

They were due to start later in June so I thought that I still had plenty of time to make alternative arrangements to working from home, but - for one reason or another - (lack of work?) the builders are starting sooner than anticipated so my plans for alternative working arrangements have not yet been finalised.

However here is my plan as it stands at the moment: I will work the odd day here and there along with another male massage therapist near Tottenham Court Road in London and the rest of  so-called "office hours" at the Spa at the fantastic 5 Star Brooklands Hotel in Weybridge.

Then for the evenings and weekends I will continue to work from home between Woking and West Byfleet. If you can put up with the dust and disruption! Please make sure you know where you will be going if you make an appointment between now and the end of July.

Is this the end of Shaving for Men?

I saw this fascinating article in the Daily Mail today:

A cream which slows the growth of hair by 70 per cent could result in men shaving just once every three weeks.

It works on both men and women, meaning five o’clock shadows and girls spending hours in the bath shaving their legs could soon be a thing of the past.

Adonia hair serum uses organic plant oils to weaken hair formation and is being hailed as a healthy alternative to expensive hair removal treatments such as electrolysis. More than 10,000 people have already put their names on a waiting list for the product. During trials in the U.S. the hair reducer showed an impressive 46 per cent reduction in hair growth after 21 days with a 70 per cent reduction after six weeks. That means the frequency of shaving could be cut by as much as 80 per cent, the equivalent of shaving as little as once every three weeks. 

Applying the cream sends hair follicles into a catagen or ‘resting state’. When follicles are in this resting state they are disabled, slowing the growth of existing hair and preventing growth. The longer the follicle is kept in a resting stage, the less hair will grow, so the more the serum is used the weaker and less dense hair becomes. Its makers say users who apply the serum every day will begin to see results within 21 days, with more impressive results emerging after six weeks. 

The serum works best when applied straight after shaving. Adonia was hailed as a ‘miracle serum’ when it was launched in the U.S. It sold out within 24 hours and created a waiting list of over 20,000. American Pie actress Shannon Elizabeth was spotted buying the cream last month. It costs £29.99 and will be launched exclusively at Harrods next month

Male Massage Therapist gets yet another annoying Sales Call

So there I was sitting in the sun having a late lunch during a break between a massage client and a male waxing client, when my phone rings.

My heart sinks as I can tell it's a Manchester number and therefore likely to be a sales call rather than a potential client wanting to book me for a facial in Surrey.

In a weak moment I decide to answer the phone and  soon ask the sales woman what she is selling. She assures me she's not selling anything but wants to give me some information...how many people have searched for male massage in Surrey in the last month and how many people search Google for waxing men in Surrey etc.

Then we get onto the sales pitch about how she can get me onto page one of Google..blah blah blah. It takes 3 attempts at me asking the same question: "So are you offering to manage my Ad Words Campaign?" before I get a straight answer.

Apparently they can manage 5 key words that people searching for my services would use to find me (for example massage in Woking, male waxing in Surrey, threading in Surrey and facials in Woking), for £165 +VAT..so I asked her what can she do for me that I can't do myself as I can manage my own Ad Words campaign thank you. Well they do "intensive research" on my key words should be and they can use "better keywords". Then I ask her: "As you don't know which key words I use, how do you know your key words are better than mine?"
 
She quickly hung up!

My brilliant new Massage Table

During the three years that I have been a full-time Massage Therapist I have used several massage tables. I have always had one for my massage therapy room and another lighter massage table which I use for out calls. 

As my massage, beauty therapy and male waxing business is going from strength to strength, I recently decided to change my massage table and get the best massage table I could find. So - lucky old you! - you will now be treated while lying on the most luxurious and comfortable massage table I could buy. 


It is electrically-operated; it not only moves up and down (so if you have difficulty getting up onto a massage table, I can lower it for you to get on, raise it to carry out the massage therapy and then lower it again for you to get off again.)  I can also move the "head end" upwards and the "feet end" down which is great for doing Facials and Eyebrow Threading.

If you decide to for a naturist (or undraped) massage to keep you warm, the massage table is covered with an electric blanket and I will also cover you with a heavy towel of the finest Egyptian cotton and if necessary another electric blanket on top. This is particularly good in the winter even if the heating is on full blast.

The new massage table also has an easily-cleaned, heavily-padded surface and a face hole that allows you to breathe easily while you are lying face down. I also use an orthopedic pillow to correct the position of your body. I am so good to you!

A great recommendation for a Massage Therapist

Massages are great for relieving stress. And just like everyone else I get stressed - either from working too hard or too many hours or any of life's other little problems. So I try to receive a massage every week or so myself.


As I work alone - and at home between West Byfleet and Woking in Surrey - I am always happy to meet other massage therapists to do a massage exchange (or a male waxing exhange for that matter). It keeps me up to date with what is happening in the beauty therapy industry as well as picking up new massage movements. We also use this time to swap hints, tips and ideas for running our own businesses. I think it's called networking but on a much less formal and forced basis!

One of my massage exchange buddies - until recently - was another Surrey-based massage therapist called Murray Mills who has met his ideal partner and moved to Spain to enjoy life and take it easy for a while.

As a consequence of this Murray has - very kindly - referred all his male waxing, male beauty and massage clients to me. For which I am extremely grateful and honoured. Murray Mills: I thank you!